The Chicago Bears have selected wide receiver Rome Odunze out of Washington with the No. 9 overall pick in the 2024 NFL Draft. This comes after the Bears made Caleb Williams the top overall pick.
Rome Odunze became one of the most highly touted wide receiver prospects in this year's draft. Considering this draft is filled with talented wide receivers — Marvin Harrison Jr., Malik Nabers, Brian Thomas Jr. — all over the board, that's saying a lot. And even more so that Odunze was selected at No. 9 overall to the Bears.
Here is everything you need to know about Rome Odunze, the Bears' second first-round pick and new wide receiver.
Rome Odunze's pre-college football career
Odunze comes from Orem, Utah, but later moved to Las Vegas, Nevada, at a young age. He ended up playing football for Bishop Gorman High School, a top preparatory school in the state. There, he excelled and was named Nevada's Gatorade Football Player of the Year award as a senior back in 2019. That season, Odunze caught 54 passes for 1,222 yards and 15 touchdowns. Odunze finished his career for the Gaels with 121 receptions for 2,699 yards and 31 touchdowns. He missed most of his sophomore season, playing in only four games due to a broken collarbone.
Rome Odunze's college football career
Rome Odunze's high school accolades got him some recognition across the country. As a prospect, he was a four-star wide receiver, ranked as the No. 135 player in the class of 2020. He ranked as the No. 22 wide receiver and the No. 2 player in the state of Nevada, according to 247Sports. He chose to play for the Washington Huskies over six other schools who offered him a scholarship.
The 2020 season, Odunze's freshman year, was impacted by the worldwide pandemic, yet he still found time playing in all four of the Huskies' games, although recording just six receptions for 72 yards and no scores. It wasn't until his junior season that Odunze really took off, playing in all 12 games, catching 75 passes for 1,145 yards and eight total scores. He then followed that up with a senior campaign that far surpassed that, having 92 receptions for 1,640 yards and 14 total scores. His efforts made him a consensus All-American in 2023 and a second consecutive selection as a first-team All-Pac-12.
The talented wide receiver also was a major part of helping the Huskies in their magical season in 2023. Overall they went 14-1, winning the Pac-12 Championship in its swan song season, beating Texas in the Sugar Bowl, and then playing for the national championship in the College Football Playoff title game.
Rome Odunze's NFL Draft fit with the Bears
Quarterback wasn't the only position in this first round of the draft where there were talented options. Wide receiver was the other, and the Bears just got elite options at both positions by drafting Caleb Williams and Rome Odunze.
It seemed like Chicago might go in this direction, with Williams and Odunze working out together before the draft. In fact, the workout also featured Bears wide receivers DJ Moore and Keenan Allen. Now all of these players are teammates on a Chicago team that will have high expectations in Williams' rookie campaign.
The Bears have almost never been known to be an explosive offense, but now they have a ton of weapons surrounding Williams. Odunze will come in as a high-level No. 3 receiver behind Moore and Allen, while potentially being a long-term successor for Allen depending on what his future holds with the franchise.
There was some discussion about Chicago trading back because of a lack of draft capital, but Ryan Poles decided to go all in on elite offensive talent. The Bears might actually be fun to watch on offense. It's a new era in The Windy City.
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